Hook feeding and arranging machine.



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PPPPP OATON .FILED MAY 21, 1909. 1,095,1 94. A Patented. May 5, 1914. re im` BBBBBBBBBB z.

W L CURTIS 1100K PBEDING AND' ARRANGING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED HAY 21, 1909. 1,095,1 94. Patented May 5, 1914.

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1100K PENDING AND ANNANGING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21. 1909.

` Patented May 5, 1914.

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HOOK FEEDING AND ARRANGING MACHINE. v

APPLICATION FILED In 21, 1909.

1,095,1 94. Patented May 5,.1914

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Mn/asses: 1% Inl/emar 56m ad @fm W. L. CURTIS. HOOK FBEDING ANDARBANGING MAGHINE. l

APPLICATION FILED HAY 21, 1909. 1 ,095, 1 94.

Patented May 5, 1914.

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Zarna'ys l UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

WALTER L. CURTIS, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DE LONG- HOOKAND EYE COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OFPENNSYLVANIA.

HOOK FEEDING- AND ARRANGING MACHINE.

Original application filed March 16, 1908, Serial, No. 421,347.

Speciiication of Letters latent.

1909. Serial No. 497,466.

T0 all 'whom t may conc-ern Be it known that I, WALTER L. CUR'rrs, acitizen of the United States, residing at Worcester, in the county ofWorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulHook Feeding and Arranging Machine, of which the following is aspecification.

This is a division of my application for a patent on a machine forassembling hooks and eyes and attaching them to cards, iiled March 16,1908, Serial No. 421,347, and this invention relates to a machine forfeeding hooks or similar articles from a hopper in which they arereceived in bulkinto a chute or the like, and at the same time causingthem automatically to be arranged in a predetermined position.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide means whereby thehooks or the like will be fed out of the hopper in which they are firstreceived in a substantially continuous downward path without thenecessity of raising them in the hopper; to provide means for receivingthem from the hopper and feeding them forward in such a way as graduallyto get most of them into a position with the hooks forward eitherontheir backs or faces; then 4to provide means for gradually droppingthe points of the hooks down while the outwardly extending eyes thereofare utilized as shoulders to hold them continuously in a more and morenearly vertical position; to provide means for thereafter receiving thehooks from the chute in which they are left in nearly vertical position,preferably raising them up and feeding them forward into a reversingdevice which will feed forward those that come with the hooks in certainposition be operated upon at the same time, all being receivedpreferably from the same hopper, thus greatly increasing the outputthereof.

Reference is to he had to the accompany- `hooks into vertical position.

-feeding hooks, and in which- Figurel is a plan of a portion of the hookreceiving and arranging mechanism in accordance with this invention.Fig. 2 1s a longitudinal sectional View of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan ofthe same. Fig. 4 is an en d view of certain mechanism shown in Fig. 2.Flg. 5 is a plan of a chute for arranging the hooks with their axes inparallel lines. Fig. 6 is an e'nd view of the same. Flg. .7 ,1s alongitudinal sectional view of the same. Figs. 8, 9 and 10 aretransverse sectlonal views on the lines 8, 9 and 10 respectvely,l ofFig. 7. Fig. 11 is a plan of one of a series of chutes for bringing theFig. 12 is a side elevation of the same partly broken away to showinterior construction. Figs. 18 and 14 are views of the opposite ends ofthe same. Fig. 15 is a sectional view of the line a--a of Fig. 12. Fig.16 is a sectional view of the line b-b of Fig. 12. Fig. 17 is afragmentary side view of portion of the same device. Fig. 18 is anenlarged side elevation of the lower end of the hook arrangingmechanism. Fig. 19 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line atthe rear of the side shown in Fig. 18. Fig. .2O is an end elevation ofthe same. Fig. 21 1s a fragmentary enlarged end elevation ofone of thechutes for turning the hooks around. Fig. 22 is a perspective of theprincipal part of one of said chutes. Fig. 23 is a sectional view of thesame on the line 23 of Fig. 21. Figs. 24, 25 and 26 are views of threesides of one of the parts of the hook turning chute, and Figs. 27, 28and 29 are similar views of the other part thereof.

The drawings illustrate the invention as embodied in the machine whichis provided with a table 9 carrying brackets or uprights 'l0 and 11which support an inclined frame 12 carrying the hook-receiving,arranging and feeding' device. The hooks are shoveled into. or otherwisesupplied indiscriminately to, a hoopcr 1.3 having an in- @lined bottomifi; which has an opening at the lower end thereof into which proiertsslightly a drum or cylinder 1.3. lhis'c'if'linder is 1'o\'ide;l withsmall pointed, proi rotation, engage the hooks so as `to carry them withit out of the hopper under a front wall 17 in a. substantiallycontinuous downward ,path without materially lifting them in the hopper.This front wall preferably comprises a series of resilient metallicstrips which are adapted to yield slightly to permit the Ihooks to beforced out, but which extend near enough to the cylinder to prevent thehooks being discharged except when carried thereby. This wall is fixedto a cross bar 18 in any desired way as for example, by means of screws.

` The hooksdischarged from the cylinder, drop into the top of a chute 2Olocated below it. This chute is` provided with an inclined bottom 21having a series of corrugations or wavy irregularities 22 beginning atthe upper' end in slight curves and gradually increasing toward thecenter of the chute'for the purpose of turning the hooks as they descendalong the same by gravity, to turn most of them on their backs in suchposition that their bills are on top. Thelower one of these corrugationscurves gradually into the lower straight part, of the inclined bottom21.'From the upper end of this straight part, inclined sides 23 extendupwardly and gradually converge so as to provide anarrowing passage 24.On-account of the nature of the manner in which the hooks pass over theirregular part 22 of the bottom of the chute, they will generally bearranged with their bills up when they enter the narrowingpassage 24between the inclined walls 23 which will bring them mostly into,

longitudinal alinement and consequently they will drop from the lowerend of this chute on the top of an inclined chute 26 in alinement butsome of them will have their bills forward and some will be located inthe opposite position. This chute is provided with a depressed passageway 27 having a ledge 28 rising gradually on either side thereof. vMostof the hooks are fed into this chute in such position that the shoulderswill ride along down the ledges 28 and the bills will swing down intothe depressed passage Way. As the angle between the bottom of thepassage-way and the top of the ledge 28 increases during vthe descent ofhooks, it will be seen that the hooks are gra dually brought to aninclined` position, supported as they are by their shoulders, with theirbills hanging down, some of them extending forward and some backward.This gradual lowering of the bills avoids swinging them when theirpositions change, and thus their possi ble 'displacement At the lower'end of this chute the bottom is cut away at the point 29 so as topermit the bills tn project down `through and hang vertically. It willbe noticed that the passage-way 27 and the distance' between the ledges28 gradually narrows from the upper end of the chute to the lower end soas to bring the hooks in alineinent at the lower end. If any of thehooks enter this chute in such position that the two shoulders will notengage the ledges 28 they will descend through the passage 29 and dropout into the frame 12 below, which has an inclined bottom so as toreceive any hooks dropped from any part of the device, above, anddeliver them into a receptacle from which they may be returned to thehopper. This chute 26 is supported on brackets 31 mounted on the frame12. In order to provide for discharging the hooks from this chute incase of any clogging of the same by a too rapid' feed of the hooks orfor any other reason, each of these chutes is constructed in the form ofa pair of jaws 32 and 33. The jaw 32 is fixed on the brackets but thejaw 33 is mounted on swinging arms 34 pivoted Yon studs 35. Springs 36are provided for normally holding the arms up in such position as toclose thc chute land permit it to work in. a normal manner. lVhen it isdesired to open any one of the chutes, however, it is merely necessaryto touch a plate 37 with which each of the movable jaws is provided toswing the jaw back, as indicated in Fig. 15 and permit the hooks to dropout into the bottom. of the 'frame 12. When this is done, it isdesirable to yprovide means for preventing hooks descending into thischute from the chute above and for this purpose each of the chutes isprovided with a gate 40 at the head end thereof. This gate is mounted toswing on a stud 41 and is operated by the movement of the swinging jaw.For this purpose a link 42 is pivotally connected with the upper arm 34and with an arm projecting from the gate. lVhen the jaw 33 is swungoutwardly, the link 42 is pulled by the arm 34 so as to swing the gateupwardly, as indicated in'Fig. 15. The hooks being now in verticalposition as indicated above, descend through the end of the chute 26into a raceway 45 which comprises a series of channels 46 which convergethroughout part of their length and at the end of each of which thehooksbring up against the end of a sliding stop 47. This stop is providedwith a series of projections 48 each adapted to engage the front hook inone channel and cach adapted to support the lower end of a hook on itsupper surface. In front of these projections and spaced therefrom arehigher projections 49 adapted to engage the front surfaces of the hookswhen the latter are held on the top of the projections 48 until thesliding stop is withdrawn to a position a little below that shown inFig: 19. At this time the top surfaces of the projections 4S are evenwith the bottom of the race-way 45, and consequently the hooks are fedby gravity along the race-way until the first hook ing stop 47 is forcedupwardly, the top of said hook which is now resting on the sliding stopwill be projected into av slot 52 in the cross -bar 50. Then when thesliding stop is withdrawn to bring the projection 49 below the lowersurface of a guideway.

53 the lower side of the hook slides downwardly over the projection 49and into the guide-way 53 without being interfered withby the slidingstop or the hooks behind. The sliding stop 47 is operated by means of acam shaft 60 having a cam 61 on each end thereof. These cams operate apair of arms G2 pivoted to the frame and .having springs 63 to opposethe cams. Each ofthese arms has a slot G4 connected with the slidingstop 47 by a point that the shaft 6() may be operated in any desired waybut is shown as being turned byaa belt 6G upon a pulley on the shaft 67on which the drum 15 is mounted, this shaft having a driving pulley (3S.It

may also be stated that the shaft 60 is shownas having a pulley G9driving va belt 70 adapted to. operate an eye-hopper, not shown.

Although only 'onevof the courses for the passage of the hooks has beendescribed. it will be understood that the machine preferably isconstructed with a plurality of such courses. twelve being shown in thedrawings. IVhen a hool; inveach course is discharged from the race-ways45, as above described, it is left standing in vertical po sitiou in aninclined race-way 53. This permits t-he hook to descend into a verticalpassage which is made up of two guide-pieces 72 and 73 located adjacentto each other to form the back side of the guide-way and having apassage 74 down which the bill of the hook` may fall when the hookenters'the top of the guide-way in proper positionv therefor. In thiscase, the back of the hook and its shoulders fall straight down througha guide-way 75. If, however, the hook is presented inthe oppositedirection with its bill forward, one of these shoulders will engage acurved 'and sl'anting surface 7G on the piece-7 2 and be guided betweenthat and a correspondingly-sha-ped curved surface 77 on the other guidepiece to turn the hook half way around and causemitsbill to be presentedat the back when it reaches; the.

bottom `of the guide-way. This series of vertical guide-ways whichconstitute devices for turning the hooks around so asto locate theirbills all in the same direction, are provided with a front plate 78which is pref pin G5. It may be stated at this lerably of glass asindicated in the drawings so that the attendant may see how the hooks.are dropping through it. It has notches 87 opposite the passages 74 topermit the hooks to be turned. This glass plate has springs 79 uponwhich bear screws 8O adapted to be adjusted to regulate the pressure Vofthe springs `on the glass plate, If the attendant .observes that theguides behindv this plate are clogged up, it is a very simple matter totouch the top of the plate and thus release the hooks and clear theguide-ways.

While I `have illustrated and described vmy invention as appliedparticularly to the feeding and arranging hooks'and while I haveillustrate-d a particular form in which the invention can convenientlybe embodied,

it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to its use forfeeding these particular articles, and that many modifications. in themechanism can be made by any person skilled in -the art withoutdeparting froml the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims.

Having thus'fully described my invention, what I claim is Y 1. In amachine for feeding hooks and the like, the combination of an inclinedhopper having an inclined bottom and a. wall closing the lower end ofthe hopper said bottom having an opening in its lower end, of a ro! tarywheel ljournaled on an axis directly below said opening projecting atits top into said opening, extending under saidv lower end of thehopper, and having means thereon for feeding the contents of the hopperout in a continuous downward path under said end wall.

2. In a machine for feeding hooks and the like, the combination of aninclined hopper having van inclined bottom and '-a wall closing thelower end of the hopper said bottom having an opening in its lower end,"of a rotarj7 wheel journaled on a transverse axis directly below saidopening projecting at its top into said opening, extending under saidlower end of the hopper, and rotatable in such a direction that articleswhich slide down said bottom will be carried continuously downwardsubstantially ina straight path until they come out under the bottoni ofthe end wall.

3. In a machine of fthe class described, the combination of a hopperhaving an inclined bottom with an opening at the lower end, meansprojecting through said opening for feeding articles from the hopper,and a niovable wall extending across the end of the hopper adjacent tosaid feeding means, for engaging the hooks as they are fed out of thehopper. i

4. Ina machine of the class described, the combinationof a hopper havingan inclined bottom with an openingjagtthe lower end,

feeding articles along in the hopper, a wall extending across the end ofthe hopper adjacent to said feeding means, said wall comprising aplurality of resilient tongues adapted to retain the articles in thehopper but to yield when said articles are fed by the feeding means, anda chute for receivingthe articles from the` hopper.

5. In a. machine of the class described, the combination of a hopperhaving a bottom with an opening at the end, means projecting throughsaid opening for feeding art-icles along in the hopper, a wall extendingacross the end of the hopper adjacent to said feeding means, said wallcomprising a plurality of downwardly extending resilient tongues adaptedto retain the articles in the hopper but to yield when said articles arefed by the feeding means.

G. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a hopper forreceiving hooks, said hopper having a front end provided with yieldingsections, means for positively feeding the hooks against said yieldingsections, and discharging them from the hopper, and a chute locatedbelow the hopper for receiving the hooks therefrom, said chute having acorrugated bottom.

7. A chute for feeding hooks or the like having an inclined bottomprovided with curved wavy depressions at its upper'end adapted to feedsolid articles by gravity and having reversely curved projectionsbetween them- 8. A chute for feeding hooks and the like having agenerally inclined bottom provided above the lower end thereof with aygenerally concave portion having gradually curved depressions andintermediate curved projections. the length of the upper depressionsbeing less than that of the lower ones.

D. A chute having a generally inclined bottom provided with corrugationsat its upper end. the upper corrugations being narrower than the lowerones and having a straightslanting portion connected with the -lowestcorrugation said slant-ing lower portion being gradually contractedtoward the bottom of the chute.

10. A chute for feeding `hooks and the like having an inclined bottom,with corrugations at the top thereof, the lower part being smooth andgradually 'contracted to form a narrow neck whereby the hooks will befed from the neck in substantial alinement with each other.

11. A chute for feeding hooks and the like having an inclined bottomwith eorrugations at the top thereof,A the lower part being smooth andbeing graf'lnally contracted to form a narrow neck whereby the hookswill be fed from thc neck in substantial alinement with each other, incombination with a chute for receiving the hooks from said neck, saidlast named chute having a, ledge on each side thereof adapted to receivethe shoulders of the hooks and support their. with their bills dependingbetween said ledges.

12. A chute for feeding hooks or the like comprising a passage-wayhaving ledges on the sides thereof, and a gradually depressed bottombetween said ledges, said ledges bcil'ig adapted to receive theshoulders of the hooks and the bottom the bills thereof,

to an upright position in said chute.

13. A chute for feeding hooks or the like, comprising a passage-wayhaving` ledges on the sides thereof, and a gradually depressed bottombetween said ledges, said ledges being adapted to receive the shouldersof the hooks and the bottom the bills thereof, whereby the hooks will begradually brought to an upright position in said chute. the bottombeing` cut away at the lower part of the chute to permit the hooks tohang freely from their shoulders and to permit any hooks not supportedby said ledges to be discharged from said chute.

1.4. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a hopper,means for feeding hooks from the hopper, a chute for receiving saidhooks h aving means for arranging them generally in alinement andfeeding them downward, a second chute for receiving the hooks from thefirst chute, having means for arranging them in an upright position anddischarging all those not received in alinement with each other from theprcceding chute, and means for guiding the hooks which are deliveredwith their bills in one direction and for simultaneously reversing the'hooks which are presented with their bills in the other direction.

l5. ln a machine of the class described, the combination of a chute forreceiving articles having means for arranging said articles generally inalinement with cach other. and a second chute having incans forreceiving the articles from the first chute and arranging the articlesfirst in an inclined position and afterward gradually bringing them to asubstantially upright position with their lower ends depending.

16. As an article of manufacture, an inclined chute for receiving hookson their faces and backs, having supports for their shoulders, and anintermediate support for their bills which gradually drops away from theshoulder supports, whereby the billsI are gradually dropped down.

1T, In a. machine of the class described, the combination of a chute forreceiving articles having means for arranging said articles genet-'allyin alinement with each other, and a second chute for receiving the larticles from the vlirst having means for arl rangingthc varticles firstin an inclined posigtiou and afterward in ay vertical position wherebythe hooks will be gradually brought` during their travel therethrough,and means for receivinoa the articles from the second chute and tfeedingforward those which enter it in one direction without changing theirposition and for reversing the position of all the others.

18. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an inclinedchute for receiving hooks in a fiat position, means for graduallydropping their bills down as they descend along the chute, andsupporting them from above by their shoulders, and a m'ovable stop forengaging the hooks and feeding them forward one by one.

19. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a feeddevice having means for receiving hooks in a flat position, graduallydropping their bills down, and supporting them from above by theirshould-ers while they are descending therethrough, a movable stop forengaging the hooks and feeding them forward one by one, a race-way forreceiving the hooks when fed forward by the stop, and means for turningpart of the hooks around so as to bring them all into the same position.

20. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a race-wayhaving a series of channels for hooks, means for simultaneously feedingthe hooks into all of said channels one by one, and means associatedwith the said channels for feeding forward all the hooks which enter itand for causing the bills of all hooks to ext-end in the same directionwhen delivered therefrom. y

21. A guide for a machine of the class described, comprising twovertical separable members each having a curved surface, said curvedsurfaces being spaced from each, other, but of complementary shapeproviding between them a slanting passage eX- tendng through an arc of180 degrees from the top to the bottom of the guide.

22. A guide for a machine of the class described, omprising a pluralityof members each having a curved surface, said curved surfaces beingspaced from each other, but

of complementary shape so as to provide ay slanting passage extendingthrough an arc of 180 degrees from the top to the bottom of the guideand a plate on the front of the passage having a notch therein forpermitting the hooks to be turned.

23. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a verticalguide having means for permitting hooks to pass through it whenpresented in proper position therefor, and means for turning all otherhooks though an arc of 180 degrees during their descent through saidguide, a series of adjacent guides for receiving. a plurality of seriesof hooks from said vertical guides, and means for simultaneously takingone hook from each of said adjacent guides and feeding it downwardly.

24. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an inclinedrace-Way having a plurality of channels, means for feeding one hook at atime into each channel, a.l vertical guide for receiving the hooks fromsaid race-way comprising a plurality of means for receiving the hooksand feeding certain of said hooks downwardly without changing theirposition and for turning the remainder of the hooks around to bring allof them into the same position, a series of adjacent guides forreceiving the hooks from the vertical guide, and means forsimultaneously taking one hook from each of said adjacent guides.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

WALTER L. CURTIS. Witnesses:

A. E. FAY, C. F. WEssoN.

